The new spoilers are in and yer old pal Duke reviews the playable cards, berates the jank, and takes obligatory swipes at Mark Rosewater. On to the spoilers!

Black

Amonkhet continues the Expertise cycle from Kaladesh. The Kaladesh Expertise cycle were Sorceries and featured the baby Cascade ability. They’re appropriately costed, somewhat underwhelming and saw sparse play in some sideboards. Kari Zev’s Expertise was seeing play in Modern due to the broken nature of it’s interaction with the Fuse cycle from Dragon’s Maze. With the new rule change on Fuse cards the Modern viability will cease.

Liliana’s Expertise is also appropriately costed and seems less likely to see constructed play. It’s an Enchantment that gives Zombies you control +1/+1 and creates two 2/2 Black Zombies. Which means that those 2/2 Zombies are actually 3/3’s. Adding six power to the board for five mana is meh. Combine 6 power with the anthem effect and it transforms into a staple for the filthy casuals playing Zombie tribal on their kitchen table.

Despite some support in SOI and Eldritch Moon, Zombie tribal is still not a competitive Standard strategy. Liliana’s Expertise certainly has synergy with the new Embalm mechanic. An Orzhov or Mardu Embalm Zombie tribal strategy will be tested by brewers. The power level of future Embalm cards will determine the likelihood such a deck has of success in the Mardu Vehicles/4C Saheeli meta. The fact that Embalm cards are only Zombies after they’ve been Embalmed, makes the strategy mana intensive and sluggish. Nothing spoiled thus far, Liliana’s Expertise included, gives Duke much hope for such a strategy cracking into the meta.

Liliana, Death’s Majesty is 5 CMC and enters play with 5 Loyalty. Her +1 creates a 2/2 Zombie and mills two cards from her controller’s library. The -3 puts a creature card from the graveyard to the battlefield. That creature becomes a black Zombie in addition to it’s other types. The Ultimate at -7 Destroys all non-Zombie creatures.

5 CMC is steep in the aggro/turn 4 infinite combo Standard meta. The +1 is just ok. Playing Embalm creatures mitigates the milling of two cards. The mill also feeds the -3 ability.

The -3 is very exploitable. Even with Emrakul’s banning, paying five mana for a planeswalker and putting an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger directly to the battlefield seems, as the kids say, deece. As mentioned above this new Liliana, seems geared towards making G/B Delirium viable again.

The -7 Destroys all non Zombie creatures. One would think could be great in the earlier mentioned Zombie tribal strategy. One would be wrong. As Ol’ Duke never gets of saying, if one is in a position to Ultimate a planeswalker, that person is probably already winning. Most planeswalker Ultimates are win-more abilities. In this case the Ultimate is ineffective against Mardu Vehicles since it misses Gideon and Heart of Kiran and it’s too slow against 4C Saheeli.

New Liliana wouldn’t even be particularly good in Zombie tribal. There are no game breaking Zombies to recur with the -3 ability in any format. Graveyard recursion decks that currently exist in the eternal meta have easier and cheaper ways to cheat fatties into play.

Liliana, Death Wielder is the face of one of Amonkhet’s Planeswalker Decks. WotC has made it clear that the Planeswalker Deck planewalkers are not meant to be Constructed format playable. Finally a promise WotC can keep. Liliana, Death Wielder is exactly the level of terrible we were promised. Liliana’s Influence is the sweet synergy you can rock by playing Liliana, Death Wielder’s Planeswalker Deck. The upside is that, because they are equally awful, Planeswalker Decks are actually a lot of fun when played against each other.

Obviously Jank 7 CMC enchantment is obviously jank. The art if weird too. Gideon is trying to stop some guy from doing something naughty, but that’s not the problem. A planeswalker is a demi-god with the power to traverse time and space, call forth world-breaking ancient arcane energy and return from the dead. Yet Gideon can be effectively restrained by the use of two normal dudes. Apparently all Nicol Bolas has to do stop the Jactice League and operate unfettered is to hire ten security guards.

How can Gideon explain this to other planeswalkers?

Gideon: “I was ten feet away from thwarting Nicol Bolas’ nefarious machinations and then it happened”. Liliana: “Did Bolas summon forth a horde of dragons; Lure Emrakul into your path; shatter the world before you into a thousand pieces?”
Gideon: “No, he had a couple goons near the door.”

What’s this? An actual answer in Standard. The masses of those who hate themselves enough to play Standard were crying out for real graveyard hate. However, that was two months ago. G/B Delirium is basically dead and GB Snek, sans Emrakul, is Mardu and 4C Shaheeli’s bottom b*tch. Mono Black and Rakdos graveyard recursion strategies are already on the bubble of Standard viability. This will put them on the wrong side of relevance.

This card belonged in the Shadows block. It could have answered GB Delirium without the need for a ban-hammer. As bad as Standard was pre ban, it is far worse now. Where we once had three tier zero decks; there are only two. Which is what happens when WotC refuses to print hate. Mark Rosewater whined constantly on his blog about people complaining that relevant hate isn’t fun.

If relevant hate doesn’t exist, the format will be solved quickly and become almost instantly homogenized. Lack of true hate cards has a detrimental effect on meta diversify. Recent history has also shown that bans won’t fix the current meta.

As it turns out the answer to creating a diverse meta is printing answers. When the only answer to Mardu Vehicles is joke rare like Release the Gremlins, there are no answers. That means if the deck one is brewing can’t naturally outrace Mardu Vehicles and Saheeli, there’s no point in continuing to test. It’s simply not viable.

The same is not true in Modern. For example, one does not have to throw out a deck idea because it can’t outrace Affinity. There’s artifact hate in every color. Just jam a few hate cards in the sideboard and the deck is now viable.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Scarab Feast. MaRo promised more answers in future sets. So far the outlook is still bleak, but Feast is at least a start. Apart from being a fine sideboard card against the above mentioned fringe Standard recursion strategies; Feast can also answer Scrapheap Scrounger. Perhaps even more important is that Feast only costs one black mana to Cycle. Getting rid of a dead card is huge in a format so dependent on curving out.

Cartouches (pronounced Car-too-sh) and Trials are Amonkhet’s self contained synergies. There will be a pair like the above in every color. In this case, Trial of Ambition provides an Edict effect. Cartouche of Ambition puts a -1/-1 on a target creature and gives the enchanted creature +1/+1 and Lifelink.

Like all Auras, Cartouches can be a two for one opportunity for the opponent to kill the creature in response; essentially countering the spell. There are ways to mitigate the risk such as targeting the Cartouche on an irrelevant creature and forcing the opponent to waste removal on a creature they otherwise don’t care about.

Playing any Cartouche bounces any Trial back to hand. The Trial can then be replayed for value. Trial of Ambition seems playable. Having a recurring Edict effect is a strong tempo play. Mardu Vehicles and especially 4C Saheeli are swing wide strategies. However, Trial coming down on turn two or three can cause Mardu to stumble if the pilot has a slow start.

Blue

We all miss the days of Azorius Control in Return to Ravnica Standard. It was the last time dedicated control was viable. It seems like forever ago, but with the promise of better answers in Standard, cards like Curator of Mysteries have hope of seeing daylight. A 4/4 Flyer for 4 CMC isn’t impressive in a format where one can play a 4/4 Flyer with Vigilance for 2 CMC. However, one mana cost Cycling and a Scry trigger makes Curator a possible powerhouse in dedicated control.

With Curator providing a clock and card filtering, Scarab Feast holding down the graveyard hate fort, and White’s elite removal suite; the only thing missing for a dedicated Esper or even Four Color Control strategy is better hate for Vehicles.

There’s a fair amount of hype surrounding As Foretold. It’s a 3 CMC Enchantment that gets a counter on it’s controller’s upkeep. Then, once each turn, it’s controller may cast a spell for free if said spell’s CMC is equal to or less than the number of counters on As Foretold.

As Foretold is a brewer’s delight for eternal formats. Play as foretold on Turn 3, then play Ancestral Visions and immediately draw three cards. In a low CMC format like Legacy As Foretold means that very quickly all one’s spells are cast for free. In Vintage where Black Lotus and Moxes are legal a Turn 1 As Foretold would not be particularly difficult to achieve.

As Foretold does not however make all spells Instant Speed. Otherwise it would be completely broken. It’s also a little awkward and probably too slow for Modern. The fact that only one free spell may be cast for free per turn makes it unsuitable for Combo decks like Storm in Modern or ANT in Legacy. Still, As Foretold is just begging for someone to break it.

This Trial is 4 CMC. It draws three cards and then discards one. It’s important to note that the card which must be discarded does not have to be one of the three cards drawn. Cartouche draws a card and gives a creature +1/+1 and flying. Like all Cartouches, it bounces a Trial back to hand.

Trial of Knowledge being an enchantment hurts its play ability. The reason Glimmer of Genius sees play is, in large part, because it’s instant speed. For a control deck Instant speed cantrips are essentially played for free anyway. What Duke means by free is that control decks will generally hold up counter magic or removal through the opponent’s turn. If they do nothing of relevance that open mana can used to cantrip on the opponent’s end step. Instead, a control deck has to tap out on their turn 4 to cantrip with Trial.

The God’s from Amonkhet have been lackluster. The Theros Era God’s are far spicier. They are Commander All-Stars. Keranos in particular will always be a great sideboard one-of in Modern.

The first reason Theros Gods were better is that they are typically unanswerable. Who runs enchantment hate that exiles? No one. Detention Sphere and Oblivion Ring are rarely found in Modern decks with any relevant meta share. The second reason is that their effects don’t force their controller to shape the game around them. On the contrary, Theros Gods force the opponent shape their strategy around them. The Theros Gods also typically have effortless trigger effects.

Kefnet the Mindful is still an interesting card. It’s 4 mana ability is a fixed Gush. Spend four mana, draw a card and bounce a land to hand. Replaying that land is a form of ramp. Using the bounced land as land-for-turn helps keep one’s hand filled and makes it slightly less ridiculous that Kefnet can’t attack or block unless unless it’s controller has a full hand.

3 CMC is a lot for a card that probably does nothing if it lands on curve. Standard being a curve or die format, Kefnet is unlikely to see play. “Draw, Go” isn’t really an option in a Turn 4 format like Standard and Modern.

Green

Vizier of the Menagerie is strictly worse 4 CMC Courser of Kruphix. Peaking at the top card of one’s library and being able to cast it, if it’s a creature, is underwhelming in a Standard format without a lot of shuffle effects. The fact that any mana can be used to cast that creature is a nice touch. However, three and four colored decks seem to exist, even in Standard, just fine without this ability. It doesn’t seem impactful enough for Standard. Eternal decks that want a similar effect will just play Courser.

This isn’t the fastest way to cheat a fatty onto the battlefield in Standard, but it’s and close and arguably easier than Aetherworks Marvel. Exert is a zero cost ability and only requires it’s controller to be able to untap with it in play. Marvel requires that the deck be built around it. Champion of Rhonas is a two card combo that could be thrown directly into any Green fatties deck.

If Emrakul wasn’t already banned Champion of Rhonas would have forced a ban. Those two cards shouldn’t exist together in a rotating format. Exerting an Ulamog still isn’t terrible value.

Dissenter’s Deliverance destroys an artifact for 2 CMC. It also has a one mana cost Cycle. Some are considering mainboarding this card since it hits a large portion of the meta and can be cycled away if it’s a dead card. Mainboard play for Dissenter may be a bit of a stretch, but this is a fine answer for the meta out of the sideboard.

Sometimes Mardu Vehicles never finds a Kiran. Or the Mardu pilot keeps a hand with two Spire of Industry and only a single Kiran or Thraben Inspector Clue to turn on the colored mana. In those cases Dissenter can put the Mardu pilot far behind on board state in the early game.

Red

Magma Spray is a 1 CMC answer to Scrapheap Scrounger. It can’t replace Shock‘s versatility since it can’t hit player or planeswalker. An answer to possibly the most annoying creature in Standard is a fine tool in the sideboard.

Hazoret the Fervent is a 4 CMC God with Haste and Indestructible. Paying 3 CMC allows one to discard a card and shock each opponent. Having a Hazoret in play can alleviate mana flood and break board stall with direct damage. It’s drawback of one or less card in hand is far less ambitious than Kefnet requiring seven cards in hand. Madness still has hope for relevance in Standard. Hazoret is a big body with a discard outlet to boot that is very difficult to remove.

White

Approach of the Second Sun is Amonkhet’s WTF card. Cast it once and gain seven life. Cast it twice and straight up win the game. Approaches’ ability to put itself back into the library means that technically one copy is all that’s required in a deck as a late game alternate win con. It’s theoretically viable in a control shell that can make it to turn 8. 7 CMC is, however, a lot to ask of any deck in an aggro heavy format.

Gideon of the Trial is a 3 CMC planeswalker with 3 loyalty. The +1 prevents damage from a target permanent, which is a very reasonable tempo play. The next ability costs zero loyalty and makes Gideon into a 4/4 creature with indestructible. The last ability also costs zero loyalty and grants an Emblem, which states that long you have a Gideon Planeswalker in play, you can’t lose the game. Yeah, zero loyalty for an Emblem. As the reader is probably aware, there is no way to remove an Emblem.

Upon Amonkhet’s release there will be 3 Gideon planeswalkers in Standard. One at 3 CMC, one at 4 CMC, and one at 5 CMC. Granted the 5 CMC Gideon is jank, but still packing twelve Gideons in a deck is possible. Planeswalkers can be difficult to interact with and making it impossible to win the game unless Gideon is dealt with is ridiculous. WotC is simply pushing the Jactice League and Gideon in particular a little too hard.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is broken in Standard, but at least one could chump block him and race. Racing is not an option with new Gideon’s Emblem. This is the kind of fog effect that Gideon Jura at a hefty 5 CMC provides. Forcing an opponent to answer a string of Gideons is too much.

As of April 11th, new Gideon is pre selling on TCGplayer at about 30 bucks. Expect new Gideon to see play in Standard and Eternal Formats. That doesn’t make him a great speculation, since he could quite possibly make the ban list in Standard.

Cat tribal! Not really. 5 CMC effectively puts seven power on the board, four power of which is Lifelink. Copy Regal Caracal with Saheeli Rai or flicker it with Felidar Guardian and now there’s eleven power on the board, eight power of which is Lifelink. If only there was a deck that already plays both Saheeli and Guardian. That could be a potential thing. Hmmmmm….

Cast out is more of the answers that WotC was promising. It’s a 4 CMC Oblivion Ring with Cycle. It’s more versatile, easier to splash than Stasis Snare and may usurp it’s place as the best answer to Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.

Serra Angel with a versatile Exile ETB trigger and Embalm seems very good. The fact that it isn’t Legendary assures Angel is never a dead card. Chaining a few Angel of Sanctions together by hard casting or Embalming is a strong play. Three power is a bummer since it can’t trade with Heart of Kiran, but it can just exile Heart with it’s ETB trigger.

Tah-Crop Elite is a Limited bomb with potential as a finisher in swing-wide constructed decks. Essentially a 4 CMC Signal Pest, Tah-Crop gives weenie decks a way to turn the corner against decks with more raw power.

The White Trial/Cartouche are worth mentioning because the Cartouche half seems like great value. One CMC produces a 1/1 token with Vigilance and gives a creature +1/+1 and First Strike. What’s holding the Cartouche back is the lackluster Trial of Solidarity. Paying 3 mana to give a creature +2/+1 and Vigilance until the end of turn is terrible value. Luckily a Cartouche can bounce any Trial, not just the one it shares a color with.

Black/White tokens in Standard? It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Orzhov already has all the best board control in the format. Embalm and the tokens they create are also in White. In Oketra’s Name in a hypothetical B/W Tokens board control/attrition strategy could be a solid combat trick.

Anointer Priest is a strictly worse Soul Sister with a bigger butt. A Standard deck like the above mentioned Black White tokens strategy could upgrade Anointer Priest from strictly worse to honorary Soul Sister. So far the hypothetical B/W tokens list is a little too mana intensive and grindy for the current meta. However, if answers in Standard continue to become better and control strategies start to swallow up more meta share, an attrition based tokens list only gets more viable.

Artifacts

Duke loves this card. Throne of the God-Pharaoh was made for Commander weenie strategies. Decks in Standard that can clog the board with cheap value creatures such as 4C Saheeli could use Throne to break board stalls.

The downside to Throne is that it doesn’t deal damage, it only causes life loss, which cannot be redirected to planeswalkers. WotC missed a opportunity to give every creature deck access to an answer for planeswalkers. Such an answer is desperately needed as WotC has been pushing Jactice League planeswalker since BFZ.

Watcher of the Dead deserves a mention since it is graveyard hate on a body that can be played by any deck. The ability to exile most of an opponent graveyard at instant speed is an efficient way to deny an opponent Delirium. The fact that Watchers does not target, and instead gives the opponent a choice, makes it ineffective against Scrapheap Scrounger or recursion.

It feels like Watchers should have Cycling. That would make it a mainboard option. Without Cycling, Watchers is a “better than nothing” sideboard card for decks without access to Scarab Feast.

The Monument cycle at 3 CMC is probably too expensive for Constructed play. Especially since the meta is dominated by three and four color decks. Oketra’s Monument has the most relevant trigger, but it has to come out early to get reasonable value. Tapping out on Turn 3 for a Monument, which does nothing the turn it’s played is dangerous against 4C Saheeli or Mardu Vehicles. For Monuments to be viable, the Standard format would have to be control heavy and designed to push mono colored decks. Both of those conditions existing together in the near future are highly unlikely.

Multi-color

What the what?! Bounty of the Luxa is so convoluted and terrible it deserves an honorable mention as one of the worst, most grab-ass card designs in Magic history. Who needs this card to exist? If a thousand monkeys, worked at a thousand typewriters, for a thousand years; Bounty would be the fruition of their effort. Richard Garfield just woke up from a dead sleep dry-heaving.